Being Erica
E4, 11 August 2011, 07:35
Being Erica is a Canadian comedy drama series about a woman who begins seeing a therapist to deal with regrets in her life, only to discover the therapist has the ability to send her back in time to re-live and change events in her life.
A complainant alerted Ofcom to a scene in this programme which featured a large sculpture made out of ice clearly shaped as a penis. The programme was broadcast at a time when children were likely to be viewing (during the early morning in the school holidays).
In the scene in question, at the beginning of the programme, two characters discussed a large ice sculpture of an erect penis and scrotum, which had been placed on the counter in a bar, as decoration for a party.
In the rest of the 50 minute programme, there were four further scenes in which the penis ice sculpture appeared either as background to the dramatic action, or was referred to by characters in the programme.
Ofcom considered Rule 1.3 of their Code, which states:
Children must … be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.
Channel 4 said that during the scene in question and in several subsequent ones, the ice penis sculpture is referred to in a comedic way and it is mostly background and incidental. It added that it considered the ice sculpture to be an an abstraction of a phallic image that is made of ice, rather than a facsimile of an erect penis.
Channel 4 said that the programme had been substantially edited to make it suitable for its scheduled transmission time. However, the broadcaster said that in retrospect some of the edits didn’t go far enough, particularly in view of the fact that it coincided with school holidays. Specifically, the broadcaster said that it considered in retrospect … that the inclusion of the ice sculpture itself as a narrative element… may not have been appropriate at 07:35 on E4.
Ofcom Decision: Breach of Rule 1.3
Under the Code, there is no prohibition on depictions or descriptions of human genitalia appearing in programming before the watershed. However, in Ofcom?s view, in this case the cumulative effect of the repeated appearance of, and references to, a large erect penis ice sculpture, was to convey a sexualised theme, even though the primary purpose of the programme was not necessarily to convey a sexual theme, but rather to provide a comedic narrative.
We noted Channel 4’s submission that it considered the ice sculpture to be an an abstraction of a phallic image that is made of ice, rather than a facsimile of an erect penis. We disagreed. In our view, the appearance and relative dimensions of the penis and scrotum depicted in the ice sculpture were highly likely to mean the ice sculpture would be perceived by members of the audience as being a depiction of an erect penis.
Given the above, it is Ofcom’s view that this content was not suitable for children. Ofcom concluded that the material was in breach of Rule 1.3.
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